The Magic Abilities, both Arcane and Witchcraft, are the only ones to retain an Endurance cost. Despite this, the rules here have also seen streamlining. Like elsewhere, Players can now use the Ability Perks and Flaws to alter the nature, and the Endurance cost, of each spell. No longer are there built in Endurance costs for casting without gestures, or even without words. All of these, if desired, are handled through the Perk/Flaw System.
The Endurance cost itself has also been simplified. Instead of annoying math like "pay half the initial Endurance cost each round" for keeping a spell in effect, there is no such extra expenditure. The amount you pay up front is the amount you pay, no matter how long the spell is in effect.
The rub is that this Endurance cannot be regained until the spell is relinquished. That 10 Endurance you spent is gone, no matter how much you rest, until you give up the effects of the spell. It's like a semi-permanent chunk of your character's fighting spirit is locked away within it. It's certainly easier to handle, and I think it is more thematically appropriate to the Ability.
Auren certainly knows his way around magic. But despite all his knowledge as a venerable sage in his world, nothing can prepare him for life as a Japanese teenager in ours.
I think you got another winner for streamlining magic - I like it draws from the perk/flaw system, that there is no additional cost over time to maintain -
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of endurance paid for the spell does not come back until spell is relinquished. Endurance is starting to become a misnomer though -- since all mage types will want high endurance for their spells; it is kind of strange to think of all mages having great endurance, but perhaps that is just pouring too much over semantics now.
Why keep magic: Arcane and Witchcraft separate? Isn't it a matter of 'flavour'?
ReplyDeleteThe names are a bit arbitrary. The real deal here is separating the capability to "give a bonus" and "give a penalty". An Expanded Notes box now gives suggestions for renaming these abilities to whatever you like, be it "psionics," "psychopower," or "the Force."
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